


Only A Dream

by Tommykaine



Series: The Touch of Wolfsbane [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fantastic Racism, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Slavery, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, M/M, Married Couple, Slice of Life, copying and reposting this work elsewhere without my permission is strictly forbidden!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23754076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tommykaine/pseuds/Tommykaine
Summary: "You still look the same...", she said, sighing. "Twenty years and you still look the same. In twenty years more years you will still look as beautiful, yet my hair will be gray and my face full of wrinkles".Kannin didn't hesitate, grasping on her face with both hands and kissing her fiercely, before breathing against her lips."One thing will not change, ever, and that is you will always have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen", he said. He knew he could praise her kindness and her intelligence but her looks were a sore spot for her, so he wanted her to know he still found her just as beautiful. "Even when you will be eighty years old I will look into your eyes and know you're still the same woman I married twenty years ago".---Kannin, the half-elf alchemist, reminisces about his past and his human wife, Lydia.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Half-Elf Character(s) & Original Elf Character(s), Original Half-Elf Character(s) & Original Human Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: The Touch of Wolfsbane [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647925
Kudos: 3
Collections: COWT - Clash Of the Writing Titans/Chronicles Of Words and Trials





	Only A Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ForgottenLoveSong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenLoveSong/gifts).



"Kannin? Kannin? Are you listening?".

A loud voice was calling him. Kannin snapped awake. He could not remember what he was dreaming, but it did not matter. He blushed as he realized that Guiscard had caught him napping instead of working, the taller man staring down at him sternly. Even if in truth he was much younger than him, it didn't feel like it. Kannin knew he had a lot to learn from him and he didn't want to let him down.

He stared up at him, watching as his thick brown eyebrows furrowed, his blue eyes staring holes into him. "There you are. Why are you falling asleep on the job?".

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again", Kannin assured him. He normally was good at hiding it when he spent the night awake, but he'd done it for two nights straight and not even the best invigorating potion could fully substitute a proper night of sleep.

"Were you experimenting again while I was not here?", the man asked, and Kannin gulped loudly and held his gaze. He knew that Guiscard didn't like him using his materials or even just his equipment for his own research, but how else was he supposed to progress?

"I'm just a bit tired after the last excursion", he lied. Last time he went to the forest had been two days before then, he'd gone to pick up some mushrooms but he also ventured into a cave and found some bugs that had a poison that caused anyone who get stung to fall asleep. He knew this because he saw one of them sting a bear and the animal collapsed almost immediately, but a few hours later he was gone. Guiscard had scolded him for his recklessness as he brought him some of the bugs in a jar, but then he'd begrudgingly admitted it might prove to be an useful ingredient for a potion.

That was also why Kannin had spent two nights awake, trying to find the right proportions to make a powerful sleeping drought. He was planning on only revealing that to Guiscard once he had made some progress so that he could not be too angry with him.

"If you're so tired then you're of no use to me here", the man barked at him. Kannin sighed, he didn't even try to argue before he got up and started packing up his things to get back home. He knew Guiscard wasn't bad but he was stern and he hated when people wasted his time.

The human looked older than Kannin, roughly in his mid-forties, but that was also thanks to some rejuvenating potions. Still, if one was to compare their real ages he would have been like a child in front of the younger-looking half-elf who had in fact a couple centuries on him.

Kannin did not look a day older than twenty but in truth he was much older than that. Even if it wasn't for his pointed ears, the fact that he'd been in that town for the last eighty years and still looked like that was a telltale sign of his elvish blood. Thankfully he was not the only non-human living there, but as far as he knew he was the only half-breed, which was something that not everyone knew.

As much as he hated elves he knew it was simpler to let humans mistake him for one of them than for them to find out his true nature. They did not have the same taboo that elves had towards half-breeds, there was more tolerance but that was the point... it was tolerance, not acceptance. He would never be accepted for who he truly was.

Well... except...

His lips spread into a smile as he thought of Lydia. She was waiting for him at home, most likely she did not expect him to be back so soon since he always spent so much time at Guiscard's emporium. She sometimes jokingly remarked that maybe he was having a secret affair with the man, laughing when Kannin's face showed his disgust at the mere thought.

As much as he enjoyed his job, it would be nice to surprise her by coming in early. In fact maybe he should bring something to her as a gift.

He took a detour, heading out of the town but rather than going in the middle of the forest he took a shortcut, until he reached a beautiful meadow full of colorful flowers. He made sure to pick some of the blue lilies that were almost the same color as her eyes, they had the faintest hint of violet to them and they were really beautiful, especially when they lit up with joy.

Once he had collected a nice bouquet he finally headed back home, unlocking the door with his key and calling out for his wife.

"Lydia! I'm back", he said loudly, pricking up his ears to her as she called out to him.

"I'm in the kitchen!".

Kannin made his way through the crowded corridor, noticing that the closer he came to the kitchen the more he could smell a delicious scent coming from it. His smile widened, it smelled like she was making some kind of stew.

He walked into the room and approached her, hugging her from behind and presenting her with the large bouquet.

"Where did you find these? They're beautiful!", she said, tilting her head up and reaching in for a kiss, and he gladly did as she expected, leaning in to claim her kiss in a quick and tender kiss.

"I'll have to find a vase for these later", she said once they both pulled back from the kiss, freeing herself from Kannin's hold to place the flowers on one of the mismatched chairs. "Come on, since you're here you can help me finish our dinner".

In truth Kannin had hoped to rest before eating, but he wasn't going to let her do all the work like a servant since he was around and could help. So he went to put on one of his aprons and helped her cut up the leftover vegetables to put in the stew, watching over it as she went to retrieve the clothes that she'd previously hung out to dry.

By the time it was ready, his stomach was grumbling loudly and he waited impatiently for Lydia to come back.

"Did a troll come in here while I wasn't looking?", she asked as she finally got back in and Kannin's stomach growled again, causing him to chuckle.

"Well I feel hungry like a troll. Let's eat fast or I might turn into one for real".

It was her turn to laugh, then they both set down the plates and each of them ate a double serving of stew. There was still enough for the next day too, which was fine since the weather was quite cold and it would not expire fast. They could not afford any of those magicked cabinets that allowed for food to last longer so they had to be a bit careful about that.

"You look tired", Lydia noted as Kannin almost dozed off while she was talking. He looked away, embarrassed.

"Sorry... I've been working a lot".

"I know. You didn't come home last night either", she noted with a small pout. "Have you been busy polishing Guiscard's sword these two nights?".

Kannin scoffed. "Ugh! Stop it, I don't even want to imagine it".

"If you don't come back tomorrow night I'll make you sleep on the floor", Lydia then half-joked and half-threatened.

"You're right... I'm sorry, I've just been really excited about a new potion".

"I understand. But I can give you reasons to be excited about coming home too", she noted with a suggestive wink, then her expression changed and a hint of sadness tinged her voice. "Unless I'm no longer interesting enough to you, now that I'm not young and pretty".

"That's not true!", Kannin immediately replied, getting up and walking up to her, holding her tightly to him. "You're always and will always be the most beautiful to me".

She smiled again, but the sadness didn't fully leave her voice as she looked up and her small hand went to stroke Kannin's cheek.

"You still look the same...", she said, sighing. "Twenty years and you still look the same. In twenty years more years you will still look as beautiful, yet my hair will be gray and my face full of wrinkles".

Kannin didn't hesitate, grasping on her face with both hands and kissing her fiercely, before breathing against her lips.

"One thing will not change, ever, and that is you will always have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen", he said. He knew he could praise her kindness and her intelligence but her looks were a sore spot for her, so he wanted her to know he still found her just as beautiful. "Even when you will be eighty years old I will look into your eyes and know you're still the same woman I married twenty years ago".

He knew she had sacrificed much to be with him, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad because of something he couldn't change. He couldn't help the fact that he was an half-elf and would eventually age, but much slower than any human ever could. And the worst thing was, he knew that one day she would die of old age and there was nothing he could do about it. There were no potions that could make a human immortal. Only ancient curses and forbidden pacts, but the consequences were always something hellish. He knew because he sometimes obsessed about the topic as he was overtaken by fear at the thought that one day Lydia would have to die and leave him forever, but everything he found out was too terrible to even consider.

It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't left everything behind her to be with him. Her family never accepted the fact that she chose to marry outside her race, so they walked out of her life. She always said they'd make a new family together, except no matter how many times they lay together, Kannin never managed to give her a child. He was sure it had to be due to his mixed heritage, and even if she never openly resented him for it he knew she too would have wanted to have a child.

That was something he wanted to experiment on, how to mix different species and uncover the secrets to maintaining fertility, but it was not something he could do while he lived there. He would have to learn everything he could from Guiscard and then move elsewhere, somewhere where he and Lydia could live peacefully. Something where he could maybe conduct his experiments in secret without being judged or without having someone else take credit for his inventions.

As he held on to his wife, Kannin thought that no matter what, he could never find anyone else like her, anyone he could love like that and who could accept him, truly...

  
  


"Master Kannin! Hey! Master, wake up already!".

Kannin gasped and looked up from his table. He had collapsed against it, and now he had spread fairy wing dust all over it. He was sure he even had it on his face.

He held back the urge to rub his eyes and groaned, stretching his back as he sat back up. He'd been having such a nice dream... he wasn't sure of what he'd been dreaming about exactly, but he could remember Lydia's eyes.

"Master Kannin!".

"What is it, elf?", he snapped back, annoyed. He normally used Theadus's name but whenever he was annoyed he would fall back to calling him 'elf' or 'slave', or, if he was particularly pissed, sometimes he'd even use 'bitch" or "slut" or "whore". And sometimes he'd call him those things during sex just because he knew they both got a kick out of it.

"The one eyed wolf, Hades is here. He said he wants to talk".

"I see. Let him in, and get a pot of tea on the stove". He didn't know what the demon wolf wanted from him but he imagined he had some sort of trade to propose, or maybe he wanted advice about something.

He was just thinking that when, suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted

"Master... have you been crying?".

"I got fairy dust into my eyes", Kannin snapped angrily, even if it had not been Theadus's fault. "If you've got time to point out useless things like that then stop wasting it and do what I want!".

The younger elf rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath as he left - probably calling him a "half-wit" or something - and Kannin sighed. He hadn't meant to be so harsh, but he never wanted him to see like that. He would find a way to make up for it later, maybe.

Maybe some sort of gift.

He smiled. He didn't know why, but he suddenly had the weirdest impulse to go out and pick out flowers...

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
> Feedback
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> I normally reply to all comments so if you do not wish for your comment to be replied to for any reason, please add "hush" somewhere in it and I will quietly appreciate it instead.


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